Check your planner! It’s almost here. In just a few short weeks, the 34th Annual Florida Storytelling Festival will make its mark in the wonderful world of story. Of course, we have all marked our calendars to be there. Lakeside Inn room reservations have hopefully been made, and map directions to Mt. Dora have been printed out or put into our cell phones.
With the count-down to opening day, activity is picking up with the board members, volunteers, and attendees. We just received word that the winners of the Youthful Voices Virginia Rivers Scholarship have been announced. So, there are some happy youth tellers and families making their plans.
Along with some outstanding invited tellers, the festival abounds with many opportunities for tellers of all ages to tell their stories. We still have time to finish brushing up one of our stories to be ready for one of those opportunities. Yes, this year will be one hoppin’ and tellin’ place! Truly something for everyone, so please nail down those plans to join us.
If you want to get even more excited about the upcoming celebration of story there in Mt. Dora, just go back and revisit some of the pages in our electronic newsletter “InSide Story.” Looking back through some of the articles we are reminded of the wonderful moments we all experienced together as we listened and told our stories over the years.
So many from which to choose:
“Her delivery was a wordless commentary on the content.”
Read Mary Lou Williams’ take (here) on Janice Del Negro’s talent wherein she “…excavates and decorates the bones of traditional folk and fairy tales…” - sounds delectable, doesn’t it!
“…of all the props that I use as a storyteller the most beneficial to my audiences are the puppets that I use.”
Windell Campbell (a featured teller at our 33rd festival) takes us through the “ins and outs” with his analogy of baseball (here). He keeps it real as he discusses the “strikes” that are against him when he goes to tell at a school, and then shows us ways that he still scores for a big win by using puppets. Windell was a huge hit at the festival and always scores a homerun as he connects with his listeners, young and old.
“Practice only on the days you eat.” - Shinichi Suzuki
With important points like the one he quoted from Shinichi Suzuki, Ward Rubrect gives us a valuable 101 course on the genre of story slams (here). If you have ever wanted to dive into that world, this article is the place to get your feet wet from a true Olympic story slam star. After you read the article, join us at the festival this year to hear from Ward as he is one of our featured tellers this year.
Many more articles are found online at the FSA webpage. Take a few minutes to explore and enjoy. Then you will be even more eager to join us at the 34th Annual Florida Storytelling Festival this April 12th. Join us, and then we will have stories to tell.
Until then,
Wanda Violet
